Improvement



G. W. BOWLSBY. REVENUE STAMP.

PATENTED JULY 14, 1868.

Fig. .4

Uri-Irun rrrrrns Parar OFFICE GEORGE W. BOWLSBY, OF MONROE, MICHIGAN.

IlVl PROVEIVIENT iN REVENU E-STAIVIPS.

Specification forming part of' Letters Patent N0. 79,806, dated July 14, 1868.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, GEORGE W. BOWLsBY, of the city and county of Monroe, and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements inGovernment Revenue- Stamps; and ,I do hereby declare that the followingis afull and exact description thereof. reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in the make and use of a stamp divided up into sections of dierent colors, and for different purposes, more or less related'to each other, and used atdiffe'rent times and places, by different persons, but for the same general object-viz., the collection of the revenue on spirits, tobacco, oil, and such other .articles as have generally no fixed quantity, qnality,and valuation, and to render more complete the protection to thepurchaser of the goods, said different sections,v of. the different colors and other varying features, being used at different times and places, lay-different persons, and for different purposes, but upon the same individualv parcel, cask, or package. Y i

The different sections may each be made about the size and proportion, more or less, of a legal-tender United States note, and on'c'ardboard, or on strongiine paper only, of ldifferent colors, for the, different purposes, to indicate the successive steps oi' inspection and reinspection, Ste. The firstmaybe green, and called the duty-section. The second, consisting sometimes of more than one. division, may be red, and is for the benefit of middlemen, such as jobbers, Wholesalers, 85e. The nal one may be blue, and called the retailers stamp.7

Each section consists of ne and elabora-te engraving over its face, in the similitude of a United States note, containing leger or ruled vlines for entries,'signatnres, &c.; with the headings of entries and the signatures of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue printed therein, and other signs also, all in blank form. These are made in duplicate at each end of the stamp-sections.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is the first or duty section, as'it comes from the Oifice of Internal Revenue at Washington. Fig. 2 is the same as filled up and ready for use Fig. 3, the reinspection-section; Fig. 4, the blue or retail section; Fig. 5, a stamp-section, separated; Fig. 6, therecord-table.

Similar letters of reference are for like parts.

In Fig. l the Vengravin g underlies the entries, as it ,does in all of the sections.' and, like other stamps now in use, must be made as diiiicult as possible to counterfeit. In vthe face of the engraving are the leger or ruled lines,prnted, as seen, all over its face-in the proper places, together with the headings and other signs for indicating the entries, and forming 4a part thereof. K

At l is the number of the stamp in its complete form, made up of the duty-sectionand l the following sections and its series sign, A, in the same manner as in common bank-notes. At 2 the amount of duty is filled in; at 3,`the proof, trade-name ofthe article, 'and' the weight or measure; at 4, the number of the package; at 5, the number of the section; at 6, the date of inspection; at 7, the name of the owner of the goods; at 8, the place where inspected; at 9, the inspectors name and ooial signature; at 10, the official signature ofthe Commissioner of Internal Revenue; at 11, other signatures, for increased safety, &c. On the right hand the entries are duplicated, as seen beyond the accidental line l2; but the signatures'at 10 and l1 are made across this line, the words or initials indicating the Vrank or designation on the line, the personal signature to the left, and the official to the right, as seen in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 shows the saine lled up, ready for use, with the' entries and signatures complete. In detail, the construction, use, and cancellation of my stamp are as follows: The first section, as also the other sections, having been printed separately in blank, as shown at Figs. l and 3, are then sent to the district assessors, as ordered by them, and charged to them in numbers and by class name, as tobacco-stamp, whisky-stamp, oil-stamp, &c.,

'but not in value, as. no exact value is fixed.

On the receipt' of them l.the assessor countersigns them, as seen at l1, then turns over to` the deputy collector as many as ordered by him, who also countersigns them, as seen at 11", who then turns over to the assistant assessorwhat he requires, who adds his signature, as at 11, who turns over to the inspector what he needs, who also adds his signature, at 9 and 9b, upon the stamp proper and the coupon both, in each and all cases the parties being charged with the numbers and kinds of stamps each and the sections; He (the inspector) then proves and measures the goods, (say whisky,) estimates the duty, enters the amount in form at 2, the other entries in their proper places, as indicated, and after the name, at 7enters the word distiller,7 rectier, jobber, wholesaler, retailer, or whatever the owner may be, and then tears the section in two at the ragged line 12. He then tacks the card or otherwise fastens it upon the article, cask, or other package, and returns the coupon to his superior, which becomes a voucher that he has actually used the stamp, and he'is credited with the same. These vouchers pass back through the same lhands by which they came to the home office in Washington, where they may be preserved for a time sufficient to insure the consumption of the goods, and may be used' to detect any frauds that they will assist in discovering in the future history of the goods.

The redstamp section, Fig. 3, is similar in make and use to the green section, and only altered on its face to adapt it to the purpose of reinspection, the headings being slightly altered for the purpose, as seen at 6, and also in the number, Sto., as seen at 1 13 13, and is intended to contain after the name at 7 the trade of the owner, as jobber, Ste., or whatever. t

The blue section closely resembles the other sections, exceptas to numbers andsome minor alterations, to adapt it to the purpose, as seen in Fig. 4, and contains after 7 the word retailer, consumerf7 manufa-cturer,or what ever.

Itis intended to use the green section for the distiller, or whoever pays the duty, as now, to the collector, upon the report of the inspectoror assessor 5 and when sold to other parties in the same or other collection district, or in case of removal of the goods by the same owner to another district-z'. e., any movement Whatever from the place of lastinspection to another locality-the owner shall immediately call upon the local inspector to reinspect the same, putting on the red section,

.and so on continuously till it gets into lthe hands of the retailer, rectifier, manufacturer, or other consumer, when he shall take oit' the preceding sections, ,and sen`d them backthrough the proper channel to Washington, and place on the head of the cask the'blue section with its proper entries, leaving it there till'the cask is empty, when he shall take it oi' and return it also to Washington.

He (the inspector) must charge the retailer or other consumer with the number and kind ot all the blue sections he uses, crediting them to him when taken up.

I -When the vouchers are returned to Waslr ington their entries may be copied into books or tables prepared for the purpose, as seen in Fig. G, the top of each page containing the proper headings printed within upright columns, as seen at l, Fig. 6, running to the right, the left-hand margin containing the successive numbers of the complete stamp, as seen at 1, Fig. 6, running downward. Upon the receipt of the green or duty voucher its contents are noted in their proper places on the li-ne opposite the stamp number, as seen at 2, Fig. 6,

running to the right, and each succeeding section of the red and of the blue in the lines thereunder.

When the half-sections that remained uponv the goods have arrived in Washington, they may be noted in the extreme right-hand column, and when the sections in all their parts are returned to the home office the account with that particular stamp and its specic package is closed. If any of the sections Vare missing, from time to time, an account may be kept of them in the column headed casuals.7

To insure the payment of the duty some time during the life of the goods in case they esca-pe from first hands without payment, it may be requisite to compel the carrier, private or public, to refuse the transit of thegoods unless they carry on their face the green or duty section, and also to compel all store-keepers, public or private, and all other persons wh atsoever, to refuse storage or harbor ot' the goods,

unless they contain, as in the first instance, the green or duty section, none of the other colors being sufficient for the purpose, so that a red or blue section, or both, or many of them, unless headed by the green section, will permit its progress, and, if in store, will make it liable to seizure, except in case its life-history be noted in the books ofthe local inspector or assessor. The sections, when used, may be varnished on one or both sides to make them Waterproof, and otherwise to protect from injury. n

The advantages. of my stamp are adaptation to use onarticles of uncertain and acci-` dental amount of taxation, because of uncertain value, Ste-that is, the tax may be estimated by the inspector and inserted therein. lt canbe used in sections, as described, for the purposes ot' inspection, reinspection, te., the sections being of different colors, to indicate to the eye at onceof the casual observer, as

"means, in most eases, of detecting frauds, or of settlingdoubts, in the use of the sections,

by the comparing of the ragged margin of the voucher with its real or pretended fellow number upon the package.

rEhe numbers become a iina'l means of detection when all others fail, because it' the stamp-section is a counterfeit the signatures must be forged, the entries imitated, and appear plausible in their relation and history, and then the reinspeetion will discover the fraud by duplicating the -number which has already been appropriated by the Government. A false history upon the face of the stamp or any one of its sections would also lead to a detection. 1n addition to this the stamps are not an article ot' sale and purchase, as most stamps are, but are, in fact, never entirely out of the hands of the Government, as, even while on the package, they are continually being followed and accounted for, are applied by the Government to thegoods; watched and known in their jcurneyings by name,l number, and previous history; are canceled bythe Government in continuous lsuccessive steps in a permanent, unalterable manner; are finally sent back to the place of issue, beyond the hope of recovery and reuse, leaving scarcely nothing to the honesty of oticials or others, and but little to the chances of accidentor the negligence of any one. .Dishonest and careless officials mayhandle and use them with almost as much impunity as the more meritorious.

Every step inthe process is an additional means of cancellation, which is completed by the sending home of the vouchers, and, finally, of the remaining` half-sections, thus leaving nothing subject to the fraud or carelessness of the user, as the use, cancellation, and all the different stepsl are made by the Government itself, through its officials, under the immediatesupervision and full knowledge of the home cti-ice at Vashington. It also affords an almost certain means of knowing that the article is safe to buy and carry and deal in generally, thereby enabling the seller to realize a fair price.

is brouglrt about by different persons and in separate steps, simple in themselves, and easily accomplished by any oliicial, while the aggregation ofthem makes a net-work ofchecks almost impossible to break through without detection, and the making ofthe home-record entry by steps hastens detection.

WhatI claim, and desire to secure by Let'- ters Patent, is-

1. A blank stampV having no iLved value while in the hands otl the Government until the inspector has estimated the tax through the proper means, and has entered the amount upon the face of the stamp for a specific package, the value ot' the stamp depending mostly upon said estimate, and partly upon the class name of the stamp.

y 2. A stamp made and thevalue xed by the Government for a particular individual package, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5.

3. A stamp made in separate and independent sections, mechanically, substantially as described, 'or the purposes named, or for other similar purposes.

4. A stamp the mechanically independent sections of which are ot' different colors, for the purposes named.

Making the diii'erent sections or portions, as described, of the same stalnp vehicles for the necessary entries of inspection and reinspection, and continuing and carrying a history on their face ot the movements,ownership, duty, proof, weight, measure, and (or) other matters of record pertaining to the article taxed, as. an ever-present means of detection, an auxiliary' in reinspection, and also a partial cancellation.

6. 'A stamp whose sections have duplicate and corresponding entries upon their faces to be separated, substantially as and for the purposes described. l

7. rIhe numbering of tbedil'erent stamps, and also the sections of the same stamp, by various series forfurther means of detection,reierencc, cancellation, record, and. identification.

S. The en try of otlicial counter-signatures upon the face of the stamp and its sections in successive series, or by intermediate steps, for the purposes named.

9. The continuous cancellation ofthe stamp by the process described.

10. The final resumption ot'V the stamp-coupons and then oi the stamps proper by the Government.

1l. A'stamp whose face-history is connected with an official book-record at the home o ce, and also with the inspectors or assessors book, for the purposes specified.

GEORGE W. BowLsBY.

Witnesses J.y MOKENNEY, E. WRIGHT HALL. 

